Johnson calls for more climate ambition
UK prime minister Boris Johnson called for more international action on climate change and for countries to make more ambitious commitments to change ahead of the COP26 summit in November.
He cited "the need to rid the world of coal-fired power and internal combustion engines" as two areas where the UK has repeatedly said more action is needed. "I confess I'm increasingly frustrated that the 'something' to which many of you have committed is nowhere near enough," he told the UN climate roundtable in New York today. "Too many major economies — some represented here today, some absent — are lagging too far behind."
Johnson said that solar and wind are the cheapest forms of electricity generation in most of the world, and will be the cheapest almost everywhere by 2030.
"It's a diplomacy issue, a security issue, a trade issue. And in the years to come, the only great powers will be green powers," he said.
The UK is hosting the COP26 summit in Glasgow. A key area is for rich countries to follow through on the $100bn of climate finance that is needed to help poorer countries with the energy transition. Germany and Canada will jointly lead on developing a $100bn delivery plan, which will be published ahead of the summit.
The UK will contribute £350mn to Climate Investment Funds, part of which will be used for its coal transition programme, which aims to accelerate the closure of coal-fired power plants by providing support to repurpose sites for renewable energy generation.
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Baltimore opens third temporary shipping channel
Baltimore opens third temporary shipping channel
New York, 22 April (Argus) — A third temporary shipping channel has opened at the Port of Baltimore to allow more vessel traffic around the collapsed Francis Scott Key Bridge. Located on the northeast side of the main channel, the new passage has a controlling depth of 20-ft, a 300-ft horizontal clearance, and a vertical clearance of 135-ft. When combined with two other temporary channels opened earlier this month the port should be able to handle "... approximately 15 percent of pre-collapse commercial activity," said David O'Connell, the federal on-scene coordinator. The main shipping channel of the Port of Baltimore — a key conduit for US vehicle imports and coal exports — is expected to be reopened by the end of May, the Maryland Port Administration said earlier this month. The bridge collapsed into the water late last month when the 116,851dwt container ship Dali lost power and crashed into one of its support columns. Salvage teams have been working ever since to remove debris from the water and containers from the ship in order to clear the main channel. By Stephen Cunningham Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
TotalEnergies takes FID for Oman's Marsa LNG
TotalEnergies takes FID for Oman's Marsa LNG
Dubai, 22 April (Argus) — TotalEnergies has taken a final investment decision (FID) for the integrated Marsa LNG bunkering project it is carrying out in Oman with state oil company OQ. The project involves the production of 150mn ft³/d (1.55bn m³/yr) of gas from Oman's onshore block 10, the liquefaction of that gas at a new 1mn t/yr capacity plant to be built at the port of Sohar on Oman's north coast, and the construction of a 300MW solar generation facility that will power the plant. The ambition of the project is to serve as the first LNG bunkering hub in the Mideast Gulf region, showcasing "an available and competitive alternative marine fuel" to reduce emissions coming from the shipping industry. TotalEnergies said today that it expects to begin producing LNG by the first quarter of 2028. That LNG is "primarily intended to serve the marine fuel market in the Gulf", the company said, but all LNG quantities not sold as bunker fuel will be off-taken by TotalEnergies and OQ. "We are proud to open a new chapter in our history in the sultanate of Oman with the launch of the Marsa LNG project, together with OQ," TotalEnergies chief executive Patrick Pouyanne said. TotalEnergies holds a majority 80pc stake in the joint venture, with OQ holding the remaining 20pc. "We are especially pleased to deploy the two pillars of our transition strategy, LNG and renewables, and thus support the sultanate on a new scale in the sustainable development of its energy resources," Pouyanne said. TotalEnergies, Shell and OQ formalised an agreement to develop the gas resources in Oman's block 10 in late 2021 . The consortium began producing gas from the Mabrouk North East field in block 10 in January 2023. At the time, the companies said they expected to reach plateau production of 500mn ft³/d by the middle of 2024. But TotalEnergies today said the consortium had already reached plateau this month. As part of the original agreement, Marsa LNG was due to deliver production from the block to the government for 18 years, or until the end of 2039. But the decision by TotalEnergies and OQ to take FID has triggered an extension of Marsa LNG's rights to block 10 until 2050. The planned 300MW photovoltaic solar plant should cover 100pc of the LNG plant's annual power consumption, which will help "significantly" reduce greenhouse gases. "By paving the way for making the next generation of very low-emission LNG plants, Marsa LNG is contributing to making gas a long-term transition energy," Pouyanne said. By Nader Itayim Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
Europe 2.6°C above pre-industrial temperature in 2023
Europe 2.6°C above pre-industrial temperature in 2023
London, 22 April (Argus) — Temperatures in Europe stood at 2.6°C above pre-industrial levels in 2023, data from the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) show. Europe last year experienced either its joint-warmest or second-warmest year on record, the WMO and EU earth-monitoring service Copernicus found today, in a joint report, European State of the Climate 2023 . The organisations use datasets covering different geographical domains for Europe. WMO includes Greenland, the South Caucasus and part of the Middle East in its dataset. Copernicus put the temperature in Europe last year at between 2.48–2.58°C above pre-industrial levels. The Paris climate agreement seeks to limit global warming to "well below" 2°C and preferably to 1.5°C. Europe is warming roughly twice as fast as the rest of the world. The global average temperature in 2023 was 1.45°C above the pre-industrial average, the WMO said earlier this year . It confirmed 2023 as the hottest on record. Climate scientists use the period 1850-1900 as the baseline for a pre-industrial average. Temperatures in Europe in 2023 were above average for 11 months of the year, and there was a record number of days with "extreme heat stress", the report found. The three warmest years on record for Europe have occurred since 2020, and the 10 warmest since 2007, it said. Electricity generation from renewables in Europe last year reached the highest proportion on record, at 43pc up from 36pc in 2022, the WMO and Copernicus said. Increased storm activity between October-December and above-average precipitation and river flow resulted in higher potential for wind power and run-of-river hydropower generation, respectively. Atmospheric concentrations of CO2 and methane — the greenhouse gases (GHGs) causing the most warming — continued to increase in 2023, "reaching record levels", the report found. It put CO2 concentrations at 419 parts per million (ppm) and methane at 1,902 parts per billion (ppb) on average last year. "Only around half of anthropogenic emissions of CO2 have been absorbed by land vegetation and oceans", the organisations said. GHGs from human activity are driving climate change, but the El Nino weather phenomenon also typically leads to higher temperatures. The El Nino weather pattern, which started in July 2023, peaked in December , the WMO said previously, but could still affect temperatures this year. There is a 60pc chance of La Nina conditions — which typically lead to lower temperatures — developing in June-August, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said earlier this month. By Georgia Gratton Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
US funds $28mn iron, steel decarbonization
US funds $28mn iron, steel decarbonization
Houston, 19 April (Argus) — The US Department of Energy (DOE) released plans to invest $28mn towards decarbonizing iron and steel production for 13 projects spanning nine states. The DOE's Advanced Research Projects Agency-Energy (ARPA-E) will manage the projects under the Revolutionizing Ore to Steel to Impact Emissions (ROSIE) program. The projects will focus on advance zero-process emission ironmaking and ultra-low life cycle emissions steelmaking. Funding will be split between multiple universities and manufacturing companies. States receiving funding include California ($4.01mn), Colorado ($2.87mn), Georgia ($2.84mn), Illinois ($3mn), Massachusetts ($6.16mn), Minnesota ($2.8mn), Nevada ($2.1mn), Pennsylvania ($760,000) and Utah ($3.48mn). The iron and steel industry currently accounts for 7pc of global greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and 11pc of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions with demand projected to rise 40pc by 2050, according to ARPA-E. Following projected metrics by ROSIE, US CO2 emissions could decreased by 65mn tonnes (t), or 1pc. Global emissions could be cut as much as 2.9 gigatonnes, or 5.5pc. By Karly Lamm Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2024. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.
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